To Be Gifted

On my way to Bio, Daniel Watts slipped something into my hand.

I didn’t know Daniel very well. All I knew about him was he was Gifted, Drew’s best friend and was known as Dan the Man among his friends, a nickname that made him wince every time he heard it.

I waited until I was in Bio to look at the piece of paper in my hand.

Haley,
As you probably know by now, the Headmaster’s found out about all the stuff I’ve been telling you. He’s pretty pissed off by it, but don’t worry his punishment is nothing major.

Anyway, knowing you, you’d probably be worried about the Tiara too. It was taken by the Vengeance killer. He left a note behind, a note I really can’t tell you about. All that I can say is that he has an ax to grind with this school and he’s not going to stop till he’s found the other two Objects.

The Headmaster’s picked a few of the Gifted to guard the other two Objects, me included. But I have a feeling that he’s not too sure where they’re hidden. Alex Sanderson was never too clear when it came to directions, only that we’d find it when we need it.

If you have any ideas where they are, since I know you can be pretty genius sometimes, pass me a note since we really need those Objects now. I was right before—the war is coming. Things around the school are going to get tense.

Obviously I can’t tell you more, unless I want to be in deeper trouble. I hope this is enough info to satisfy you, I don’t want you to go poking around the school. Don’t think that the Headmaster wouldn’t punish you too. He’s only looking for a valid reason. He’s going to be paying close attention to you. One false step and he’s going to send you away.

Okay. When you’re done with this, it’s probably a good idea for you to destroy this before anyone else finds it. Don’t worry about Dan knowing it. You can trust him. Anything you want to tell me, you can pass him a note.

Drew

I read through the letter twice and then I tore it into many pieces, holding them tightly in my fist.

Needless to say, I couldn’t pay attention to Bio. Drew’s words kept swirling around in my head. The Headmaster was going to be watching me, which meant that I couldn’t do anything unless I wanted to get into trouble. But I couldn’t help myself, there was a war coming. This was my home. I couldn’t pretend that I didn’t know anything.

There was something else too, something niggling at me at the back of my mind. But I couldn’t figure it out and it was frustrating me.

The only way out was to talk to the Headmaster.



Getting an appointment with the Headmaster was hard. He seemed to be booked for the next half a year and no matter how I pleaded, Mrs. Potts, the secretary, refused to free up a spot for me.

“The rules are rules, Haley. I’m afraid I can’t help you even if I want to.”

Biting my lower lip, I tried to look at the computer monitor to see if Mrs. Potts was lying to me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do this without being completely obvious, which resulted in her closing the document. Instead, I got a good view of Johnny Depp, which was her desktop background.

It was unethical of me to make use of her celebrity crush, I knew. But I was kind of desperate and I didn’t see any other choices.

“Johnny Depp’s pretty cool, isn’t he?” I blinked innocently at her, as her face turned a rosy red. So this was how Drew felt like, how amused he must be seeing my embarrassment. “My father knows him, you know? He came by our house once. If you could be kind enough to help me, I can try getting an autograph and maybe even, oh I don’t know, maybe a set piece from Pirates of the Caribbean? That is, if you’re interested in that kind of thing.”

Mrs. Potts stared at me for a minute before turning back to her computer.

For that moment, I thought that I hadn’t managed to tempt her and that I was going to have to wait to meet the Headmaster. But then she turned back to me, her face flushed with pride. “I did it. I fitted you in to an appointment tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.”

I flashed a quick smile at her. “Thanks, Mrs. Potts. I’ll get you that autograph and whatever I can by this week.”



I had never woken up so early before so I didn’t know if breakfast was served so early. Apparently it was, because when I entered the cafeteria, there was already a tiny selection of food available. I ate quickly, thinking about what to say to the Headmaster.

Then I went to the office. Mrs. Potts grinned at me secretively.

When 9 a.m. rolled around, the Headmaster strolled into the office. He narrowed his eyes when he saw me and whorled around to Mrs. Potts. “I don’t believe I saw an appointment with Haley van Bridget in my schedule yesterday.”

I was surprised that he could recognise me by sight. But then, what had I expected? He was the Headmaster, he was in charge of the all the Gifted teens. He had to know everything about this school, it was his job.

“I must have made an error then. Here’s the amended copy of your schedule,” replied Mrs. Potts, her polite smile never wavering.

The Headmaster frowned, clearly not believing her. But there was nothing he could do now. I was here and he couldn’t ignore me. It would be immature and not like the Headmaster.

The two of us entered his private office. It was sparse, like he hadn’t bothered unpacking his personal possessions. There were no trophies, no sign of all the achievements of the Gifted. There were a lot of folders on his table with two chairs in front of it, a grey cabinet next to it probably stuffed full of files and a black sofa set with a white coffee table next to the door. The other furniture seemed to be untouched.

He sat behind his desk and gestured for me to sit on one of the chairs. Then he loosened his tie slightly. “I’ll be blunt, Miss van Bridget. No matter what you say on behalf of Mr. Sutherland, he has broken the rules. Those who don’t follow the rules get punished. It is as simple as that.”

“I’m not here because of Drew.” My tone was firm despite my flaming cheeks. Did I seem so close to Drew to Headmaster? Close enough to plead his case? “I’m here because I want to know what I can do. There’s a war coming and I can’t just sit tight and wait for the Gifted to handle everything.”

“But you must. No matter what you want, you are not as well-equipped as the Gifted. What can you offer us that we do not already have? You would only be more of a hindrance than a help.”

The Headmaster was an extremely imposing figure. For one, he was tall, broad-shouldered and muscled. He could easily crush me between his hands. For another, his gaze was calm and absolute and his tone completely logical, if not slightly condescending. It was hard to argue with a man like that.

“I know I probably wouldn’t be much use at the war, none of the Elite would be. But I can help you find the Seraphic Objects.”

“What makes you think that I do not know where they are?” His eyes glinted.

I felt like slapping myself for making such a mistake. I only knew this because of Drew. But he couldn’t know that. Hurriedly trying to mend the situation, I said, “If you did, the Tiara wouldn’t have been taken. You would have had a lot of protection around it and nobody un-Gifted would’ve been able to get to it.”

“You are rather sharp, Miss van Bridget. But I still do not believe that you can help us. It’s best if you leave the situation alone. If you get hurt in the process, I imagine your parents would not look upon the school too kindly. I would think that they would do anything they can to destroy the school, withdrawing their donations and pressuring their friends to stop their children from attending. The combined powers of Richard and Lucille van Bridget would be too much for this school to handle. We would be bankrupt.”

I swallowed hard. I knew this, how ruthless my parents could be when something went wrong. And I hated to admit it, but the Headmaster might be right. I was very clumsy, I could easily get hurt.

“If there is nothing else you want to say, Miss van Bridget, you can go. Classes are starting soon.”

Staring at the Headmaster’s calm brown eyes, I finally understood what it was that had been bothering me.

The daughters and sons of Angels,
Shall be Gifted beyond compare.
To win the war against the Rebels,
Four objects you must bear.

There were supposed to be four, not just three. “The Prophecy mentions four objects the Gifted need. But there are only three Seraphic Objects. What’s the last one?”

His expression morphed then, into something fiercer. “It was a mistake for Mr. Sutherland to tell you about the Prophecy. You’re far too observant and incredibly bullheaded, nosing into situations you should not. You have no right to question me, Miss van Bridget. And there is nobody who would tell you anything about the fourth object. You should leave now.”

I rose, slightly unsteady on my feet, shocked at his violent reaction.

But I knew that he wasn’t completely right. There was somebody who’d tell me.



“The Prophecy is a myth, Haley,” said Trent. “Anybody who’s placing his bets on it is just stupid or desperate.”

We were talking quietly in the library again, sitting side by side, because there weren’t many people milling about here. Even if someone questioned why Trent, being Gifted, would be talking to me, we could say that we were old friends that were catching up. I had it all figured out.

“But the Headmaster seemed kind of agitated when I asked him about the fourth object.”

“I don’t know what the fourth object is either. Probably only those in his inner circle, like Sutherland, would know what it is. I only know about the three Seraphic Objects and even then, I thought that they weren’t real. It seems like I was wrong though.”

“So…what are the other two?”

Trent smiled, not surprised that I was asking about it now. But he didn’t know that I would’ve rather asked Drew if I could, because my gut told me that Drew would be more honest.

“The three Angelic Objects are the Tiara of the Pure, the Fallen’s Sword and the Goblet of Ashes. All the three Objects were forged with good intentions but they changed when the Rebel Angels took them. You already know about the Tiara so I’ll jump right into the Fallen’s Sword. The Fallen’s Sword is made to kill, like a normal sword. The only difference is the Sword can kill anyone—Angels, Gifted or even you—as long as it touches you. It can give you a deadly paper cut.”

I couldn’t smile, even though I knew Trent was joking. The Sword sounded horrible, even worse than the Tiara.

“The last Object, the Goblet of Ashes is the most powerful of them all. It allows one to take the power of a Gifted person. But one needs to kill that person and drink their blood.”

My stomach lurched uncomfortably, like I was going to hurl. I put my hand over my mouth, hoping that I wouldn’t. I wanted to prove to the Headmaster that I wasn’t weak but if I couldn’t even handle listening to the Objects, how was I supposed to help find them?

“Those Objects aren’t angelic at all,” I finally mumbled.

“Nothing is, in real life.”

His expression was blank, distant, like he was closing himself off. What was he thinking about? Was he thinking about his parents and how they were gone too soon? How his life clearly was not good or angelic after they passed away.

I put a hand on his shoulder, afraid that he’d push me away like before. But he didn’t. Instead he leaned against me, like he was grateful that finally, someone was on his side.